Contact center monitoring

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems for providing a graphical depiction of a communication system incorporating multiple call centers distributed around the globe are provided. The user interface can present the graphical depiction in two or three dimensions. In addition, the user interface can provide a view of details concerning the performance of communication system components or events affecting the performance of such components, and can enable a supervisor to manipulate contact center parameters.

FIELD

The present invention is directed to contact center monitoring. Moreparticularly, embodiments provide an interactive depiction ofgeographically dispersed contact centers and a current status of thosecontact centers.

BACKGROUND

Contact centers, which typically are associated with human agents, areused to provide customer service and support. Increasingly, contactcenters are geographically dispersed. For example, a single enterprisemay have multiple contact centers at different locations across theglobe. Managing such a geographically dispersed system is difficult,particularly as an administrator may be unaware of local conditionsaffecting performance at one contact center but not others.

Typically, a contact center is assigned to handle particular types ofcalls or contacts. The different calls or contacts can be sorted intoqueues to await service by contact center agents. In addition, differentqueues may be supported by different contact centers simultaneously. Inorder to determine the health or status of different contact centers,administrators typically have access to text based or tabular tools.Such tools can provide a snapshot of a contact center's performance.However, determining the health of a contact center from suchinformation is not intuitive. In addition, such information may not becapable of depicting parameters that are affecting performance of acontact center that are not themselves internal to the contact center.For example, contact center performance can be affected by overloadingor disruptions of communication channels linking a serviced area to thecontact center. As another example, a contact center may be affected bylocal events, such as natural disasters or weather events. As stillanother example, a contact center may be presented with an exceptionallyhigh load, and may therefore present extended caller wait times or otherindications of poor performance, because another contact center isexperiencing difficulties that prevent it from taking its share ofcontacts associated with a queue serviced by both contact centers. Inthese cases, it can be particularly difficult for an administrator toidentify the cause of performance issues within the enterprise, and totake corrective action.

SUMMARY

Systems and methods that provide an interactive depiction ofgeographically dispersed contact centers and a current status of thosecontact centers are provided. More particularly, a geographic view ofcontact centers within a communication system is presented, togetherwith an indication of the health of the individual contact centers. Inaddition, the depiction can include additional information. For example,a health or status of communication links between contact centers and/orservice areas can be provided. As a further example, newsfeeds or otherinformation related to a location of a contact center, service area, orcommunication link can be provided.

In accordance with at least some embodiments of the present disclosure,additional information related to contact centers, service areas,communication links or news related to particular locales can beaccessed. Moreover, such access can be facilitated by the user interfacethat presents the communication system information. For example,intuitive gestures can be used to select items for which additionalinformation is desired, and to initiate the display of such additionalinformation. In accordance with further embodiments, a user can entercommands related to displayed information through the user interface.Moreover, in accordance with at least some embodiments, the userinterface can present a three-dimensional depiction of a map or globeand components of a communication system.

The methods disclosed herein can include monitoring at least a firstperformance parameter associated with first and second contact centers.The at least a first performance parameter is used to assign aperformance score to the first contact center. A geographic location ofthe first contact center is represented in a display output. Inaddition, the assigned performance score of the first contact center isrepresented in the display output. Moreover, a geographic location ofthe second contact center is also represented in the display output.

The method can additionally include, using at least a first performanceparameter, assigning a performance score to the second contact center,and representing the assigned performance score of the second contactcenter in the display output. The first performance parameter caninclude a health parameter. The health parameter can further include ahealth of agents associated with the respective site or contact center.The health of agents associated with the respective site can be derivedfrom information including a time for the agents associated with thefirst site to handle contacts in a first queue compared to a time forthe agents associated with the second site to handle contacts in thefirst queue. In addition, a status of a communication link between thefirst contact center in at least one of the second contact in ageographic region other than the geographic region included in the firstcontact center can be represented in the display output. Moreover, thestatus of the communication link can include a representation of avolume of contacts carried by that link. In accordance with furtherembodiments, a newsfeed associated with the geographic location of thefirst contact center is received, and information from the newsfeed isdisplayed in the display output. User input can be received selectingthe first contact center, in response to the user input additionalinformation regarding that contact center can be displayed. Theadditional information can include the health of agents associated withthe first contact center, the health of at least a first queueassociated with the first contact center, or information included in thenewsfeed associated with the geographic location of the first contactcenter. The method can additionally include representing the status of acommunication link between contact centers or a contact center and ageographic region, receiving a newsfeed associated with the location ofthe second contact center, and displaying information from the newsfeedassociated with the geographic location of the second contact center inthe display output, wherein the status of the assigned performancescores of the contact centers, the status of the communication linkbetween the contact centers and/or a geographic region other than thegeographic region including the contact center, and information from thenewsfeeds are all displayed simultaneously in the display output. Thedisplay output can be a three-dimensional display output. Moreover, thedisplay output can be presented by a touch screen display.

Embodiments can further include a computer readable medium having storedthereon computer executable instructions, the instructions causing aprocessor to execute a method for facilitating mobile monitoring andcontrol of a communication system that includes at least a first contactcenter. The instructions include instructions to provide a presentationof a geographic area, instructions to represent data of a first typerelated to the first contact center in a first portion of the geographicarea corresponding to a location of a first contact center, andinstructions to represent data of the first type related to a secondcontact center in a second portion of the geographic area correspondingto a location of the second contact center. The computer readable mediumcan be included in a supervisor device, and the instructions can beexecuted by a processor included in that device. The computer readablemedium can additionally include instructions to represent data of asecond type related to at least one of a communication link to at leastone of the first and second contact centers in a service area associatedwith at least one of the first and second contact centers. In addition,the computer readable medium can include instructions to presentinformation of the third type in response to user input selecting one ofthe first and second contact centers.

Other embodiments comprise a device having a communication interface, auser output, a user input, a processor, and memory. The memory can havestored thereon first call center data, second call center data, and amonitor and control application. The monitor and control application isexecuted by the processor and displays call center related informationto a user. The call center related information is presented graphicallyby the user output, and the call center related information associatedwith the first call center is displayed in a geographic locationcorresponding to an actual location of that call center. Moreover, thecall center related information associated with the second call centeris displayed in the geographic location corresponding to an actuallocation of that call center. The device can also include acommunication application stored in memory that supports communicationsbetween the device and one of the call centers in response to aselection of a displayed depiction of the call centers. The monitor andcontrol application can further display information related to thestatus of a communication link between call centers or a call center andservice area, conditions in a geographic location, and a status of aservice area.

Additional features and advantages of embodiments of the presentinvention will become more readily apparent from the followingdescription, particularly when taken together with the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram depicting components of a system in accordancewith embodiments of the present invention;

FIGS. 2A-2B are block diagrams of a contact center server and asupervisor device respectively in accordance with embodiments of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 depicts a user interface in accordance with embodiments of thepresent invention; and

FIG. 4 is a flowchart depicting aspects of a method in accordance withembodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a block diagram depicting components of a communication system100 in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. Inparticular, the communication system 100 includes a plurality of call orcontact centers 104. Although a first 104 a and a second 104 b contactcenter are shown, a communication system 100 can have any number ofcontact centers 104. In addition, each contact center 104 can be at adifferent geographic location than some or all of the other contactcenters 104. In general, the contact center 104 can be in communicationwith one or more customer endpoints or devices 108 via one or morecommunication networks 112. Examples of customer endpoints 108 includebut are not limited to telephones, cellular telephones, and desktop ormobile computing devices, or any other device capable of supportingcommunications between a customer and a customer service or other agentassociated with the contact center 104. Moreover, the communicationsbetween the contact center 104 and the customer endpoints 108 cancomprise voice telephony, video telephony, email, instant messaging,short message system, or other real time or non-real timecommunications. The communication network 112 can include the Internet,local area network, wide area network, public switched telephony network(PSTN), wireless networks, or a plurality of networks in anycombination. The contact center 104 generally includes a call or contactcenter server 116, such as an automatic contact (or call) distributionsystem (ACD) server 116. The ACD server 116 is illustratively theMultiVantage™ enterprise communication-based ACD system available fromAvaya Inc. The ACD server 116 is interconnected to a plurality of agentworkstations or endpoints 120. The agent workstations 120 may beconnected to the ACD server 116 by a voice and/or data transmissionmedian or enterprise network 128.

The ACD server 116 generally functions to connect agent workstations 120to customer devices or endpoints 108 through the communication network112, to place customers 110 in communication with agents 122. Inaddition, the ACD server 116 maintains queues 132 for servicing customercontacts. The different queues 132 can be used to sort contacts from (orto) customer endpoints 108 by type, identity of the customer or contact110, or any other attribute. Agents 122 associated with the agentworkstations 120 are assigned to provide services to contacts that havebeen placed within one or more of the queues 132 based on availabilityand/or weighting factors.

In addition, embodiments of a communication system 100 can include asupervisor or administrator device 124. The supervisor device 124 is incommunication with the ACD server 116 via the communication network 112and/or the enterprise network 128. For example, if the supervisor device124 is on the premises of the contact center 104, communications withthe ACD server 116 may be over a portion of the enterprise network 128comprising a wireless (e.g., a Wi-Fi) network. As another example, thesupervisor device 124 may be in communication with the ACD server 116over the communication network 112, for example via a cellular telephonydata network, a Wi-Fi or wired Ethernet connection outside of theenterprise network 128. In general, the supervisor device 124 providesfunctionality that allows a supervisor 126 to monitor the health of thecontact center 104, and to control aspects of the operation of thecontact center 104.

The supervisor device 124 can comprise any device, including a mobiledevice, capable of presenting information to a supervisor 126, and ofreceiving control commands from the supervisor 126. In addition, thesupervisor mobile device 124 is generally a device capable of running anapplication that provides a browser, template or framework fordisplaying information and receiving input with respect to suchinformation. In addition, the supervisor mobile device 124 is a devicethat is capable of wireless communications over at least one of avariety of wireless network types, including but not limited to cellulardata networks (such as 3G or 4G networks), Wi-Fi networks, WiMaxnetworks, Bluetooth connections, and the like. Accordingly, a supervisordevice 124 can include, but is not limited to, a tablet computer, alaptop computer, a Smartphone, a Netbook, a desktop computer, or thelike.

FIGS. 2A-2B are block diagrams depicting components of an ACD system 104in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. Moreparticularly, components of an ACD server 116 are shown in FIG. 2A,while components of a supervisor device 124 are shown in FIG. 2B.

As the ACD server 116 and the supervisor device 124 can, at leastpartially, be implemented as conventional computing devices, they sharecertain components in common. For example, each generally includes aprocessor 204 capable of executing program instructions. The processor204 may include any general purpose programmable processor or controllerfor executing application programming. Alternatively, the processor 204may comprise a specially configured application specific integratedcircuit (ASIC). The processor 204 generally functions to run programmingcode implementing various functions performed by the associated ACDserver 116 or supervisor device 124. For example, with respect to theACD server 116 (see FIG. 2A), the processor 204 can implement functionsincluding assigning incoming contacts received by the contact center 104from customer endpoints 108 to contact queues 132 and to agentworkstations 120 for handling by associated agents 122. As anotherexample, with respect to the supervisor device 124 (see FIG. 2B), suchfunctions may include displaying information regarding the operation ofthe communication system 100 and/or an included call center 104 to thesupervisor 126, and to receiving commands input by the supervisor 126with respect to the operation of a contact center 104. Moreover, asdescribed in greater detail elsewhere herein, the ACD server 116 and thesupervisor device 124 operate in cooperation with one another to providemonitoring and control functions to a supervisor 126, to assist in theoperation of the contact center 104.

The ACD server 116 and the supervisor device 124 additionally includememory 208. The memory 208 can be used in connection with the executionof programming by the processor 204 of the associated device 116 or 124,and for the temporary or long term storage of data or programinstructions. For example, the ACD server 116, as shown in FIG. 2A, caninclude a monitor and control application 220 and/or an automatic calldistribution application 232 that is stored in memory 208. As anadditional example, the ACD server 116 can operate in connection withthe operation of an ACD control system application 236 stored in thememory 208 that functions as an adjunct to or in cooperation with theACD call distribution application 232. The memory 208 of the

ACD server 116 can also function as a store for records or other data218 that is related to the ACD or contact queues 132 maintained by theACD server 116. The memory 208 included in the supervisor device 124, asshown in FIG. 2B, can include a monitor and control application 220. Asdescribed in greater detail elsewhere herein, the monitor and controlapplication 220, whether implemented on one or both of an ACD sewer 116or a supervisor device 124, can provide a user interface to displayinformation regarding the operation of the ACD system 104 to thesupervisor 126 or other user, and to receive control input from thesupervisor 126 or other user. The memory 208 in the supervisor device124 can also provide storage for ACD system 104 data 222. The memory 208of the ACD server 116 and/or the supervisor mobile device 124 canadditionally provide storage for one or more communication applications224. Examples of communication applications 224 include, but are notlimited to, email, instant messaging, voice telephony, video telephony,and the like. The memory 208 of the ACD server 116 and/or the supervisormobile device 124 can include solid state memory that is resident,removable and/or remote in nature, such as DRAM and SDRAM. Alternativelyor in addition, the memory 208 can include magnetic, optical or otherstorage devices. Moreover, the memory can include a plurality ofdiscrete components of different types and/or a plurality of logicalpartitions.

In addition, user input devices 212 and user output devices 216 may beprovided. With respect to the ACD server 116, such devices 212 and 216can be used in connection with the monitoring and control of the ACDsystem 104 by a supervisor 126 or an administrator in a conventionalfashion, in which the supervisor 126 or administrator is tethered to thecontact center 104. With respect to the supervisor device 124, the oneor more user input devices 212 or one or more user output devices 216facilitate the remote monitoring and control of the ACD system 104 bythe supervisor 126 through the supervisor device 124. Examples of userinput devices 212 include a keyboard, a numeric keypad, touch screen,microphone, scanner, and pointing device combined with a screen or otherposition encoder. Examples of user output devices 216 include a display,a touch screen display, a speaker, and a printer. The ACD server 116 andthe supervisor mobile device 126 also generally include a communicationinterface 228 to interconnect the server 116 or device 126 to thenetworks 112 and 128.

FIG. 3 depicts a user interface 304 in accordance with embodiments ofthe present invention. The user interface 304 can be generated throughoperation of the ACD call distribution application 232 on one or aplurality of contact center servers 116 within the communication system100, and/or in connection with a monitor and control application 220running on an ACD server 116 and on a supervisor device 124. The userinterface 304 can be presented by a user output 216 of a contact centerserver 116 and/or a supervisor device 124. Moreover, the user interface304 can be interactive, in that it can provide fields, regions, buttons,menus, or other features to enable the user interface to receive inputfrom a supervisor or administrator 126, as well as to presentinformation to the supervisor 126 graphically.

The user interface 304 can present a map 308 encompassing a geographicarea and showing the geographical relationship or separation betweendifferent contact centers 104 within a communication system 100. Inaccordance with at least some embodiments, a user interface 304 canpresent the information in two dimensions. In accordance with furtherembodiments, a user interface 304 can present the information in threedimensions. Accordingly, the user output 216 used to present theinformation can include a three-dimensional output that, for example,requires the supervisor 126 to position their eyes at a particularlocation or area when viewing the output 216, in order to receive thethree-dimensional information, to wear specially configured glasses withelectronic shutters or polarization features required to receive athree-dimensional image, or the like. As yet a further example, bymanipulating the image, for example through using touch and draggestures entered on a user output 212, 216 comprising a touch screen,the supervisor 126 can rotate a depiction of the globe presenting thegeographically dispersed contact centers 104, to view other areas of theglobe (i.e., the Earth) displayed as the map 308, and the status ofcontact centers 104 and/or serviced regions 312 therein.

The health or status of the different contact centers 104, as determinedfrom a scoring procedure implemented by, for example an ACD controlsystem application 236 and/or a monitor and control application 220, canbe communicated to the supervisor 126 through the color associated withthe different contact centers 104. For example, a contact center 104 inpoor health (for example one that is not meeting minimum servicerequirements) may be shown in red, a contact center 104 that is notmeeting optimum service goals can be shown in orange, and a contactcenter that is meeting all service goals can be shown in green.Similarly, the status of communication links or channels 316 betweencontact centers 104 and/or between contact centers 104 and servicedareas 312 can be depicted through the use of color or some otherindication. Additionally, depicted information can include information320 related to the location or region including a contact center 104, aserviced area 312, and/or a communication link 316. Such information 320can be obtained from a news feed, such as a Really Simple Syndication(RSS) feed, a broadcast news feed, a twitter account, or the like. Asyet another example, detailed information 324 regarding one or morecontact centers 104 can be displayed. The detailed contact centerinformation 324 can include information regarding various monitoredperformance parameters associated with one or more contact centers 104.Moreover, the supervisor 126 or other user can provide control inputthrough or in connection with the detailed contact center information324, to control aspects of the operation of the contact center 104.

In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, the userinterface 304 allows a user such as a supervisor 126 to interact withand manipulate contact centers 104 in an immersive, game likeexperience. For example, by placing a finger on the displayed map orglobe 308, and dragging it across the screen of the output device 216,the portion of the map 308 visible to the supervisor 126 can be changed.That is, the globe or map 308 can be rotated to reveal areas or regionsof interest. Moreover, prominence can be given to a contact center orcenters 104 appearing in the middle of the user interface 304 display.For example, by centering a contact center 104 within the display, moredetailed information about that contact center 104 can be revealed, ascompared to other contact centers 104. For instance, the centeredcontact center may present information 324 regarding the performance ofthat contact center 104 and/or its associated agents 122 in a tabular ortextual form, in an area of the display proximate to the depiction ofthe contact center 104 location on the globe. Alternatively or inaddition, information concerning news that might affect the performanceof the selected contact center 104 can be presented in a window 320. Forinstance, weather reports, information regarding the political climate,social unrest, or other information can be depicted. As a particularexample, a window providing a feed from local news and/or weather can bepresented. Where an audio component of such a feed is available, asupervisor 126 can listen to such audio output through a user output 216comprising an audio output device by tapping the depiction of the newsfeed or otherwise selecting it.

In accordance with still other embodiments, a user can effectively“scroll” through items of information related to a call center 104 byrepeatedly tapping the call center 104, with each tap bringing up thedifferent category or item of information. In addition to accessingdetailed information about a call center 104, a supervisor 126 cancontrol aspects of the operation of the contact center 104. For example,the supervisor 126 can manipulate parameters associated with queues 132established in connection with or serviced by the contact center 104,can manipulate the assignments of human agents 122 with respect todifferent queues 132, etc. Moreover, in connection with user interface304 in accordance with embodiments of the present invention, suchactions can be taken with respect to different contact centers 104through manipulating the view of the contact centers 104 presented bythe user interface 304. For example, a supervisor 126 or other user cancenter a desired contact center 104 in the user interface 304 using adrag gesture, can drill down to access detailed information about theselected contact center 104 using a tap gesture, and can enter changesto parameters associated with a selected contact center 104 throughinput provided using the user interface 304.

In addition to input provided as gestures entered in connection with atouch screen display of the map 308, the user interface can presentand/or operate in connection with software or hardware buttons. Forexample, control buttons 328 can be provided for changing the displayedarea of the map 308. As another example, radio buttons 332 can beprovided for performing various functions, such as activating a newsfeed 336, accessing detailed contact center information 340, orcontrolling contact center parameters 344 with respect to a selectedcontact center 104.

Embodiments of the present invention additionally allow a supervisor 126to initiate communications with personnel, such as agents 122,associated with a contact center 104 by interacting with the userinterface 304. For instance, by using a long tap gesture, or otherassigned gesture input, a supervisor 126 interacting with the userinterface 304 can initiate a communication, such as a voice or videocall, email, short message system, or other communication, with thecontact center 104. For example, by using a long tap gesture input in anarea of the user interface 304 corresponding to a contact center 104that the supervisor 126 desires contact with, a voice or video call,chat, text message, or email message between the supervisor and an agent122 or other person associated with the contact center 104 can beinitiated, for example via the supervisor workstation 124. A software orradio button 332 can also be provided to initiate communications 348with a selected contact center 104.

With reference now to FIG. 4, aspects of a method for presenting contactcenter 104 information to a supervisor 126 in a communication system 100in accordance with embodiments of the present invention are depicted.Initially, the ACD application 232 running on contact center servers 116associated with different contact centers 104 may operate to collectcontact center 104 information (step 404). The collected information canbe reported to one or more other contact center servers 116, and/or to asupervisor device 124 (step 408). At step 412, the collected informationor information derived therefrom, such as a performance parameter score,is presented, at least in part, by a user interface 304, throughoperation of the ACD control system application 236 on a contact centerserver 116 and/or the monitor and control application 220 executed bythe supervisor device 124. More particularly, the user interface 304generated by the ACD control system application 236 and/or the monitorand control application 220 presents a view of the map or globe 308through the user interface 304. The initial view can be a default view,or the view that was last presented to the supervisor 126 during anearlier session. The view can present performance parameter information,such as a performance parameter score associated with one or morecontact centers 104, communication links 316, or other communicationsystem 100 components simultaneously. Moreover, the score may becommunicated by an assigned color, numeric score, letter grade, or otherindicia.

At step 416, a determination can be made as to whether input has beenreceived changing the view. If such input has been received, for examplein the form of a drag gesture entered on a touch screen display 212, 216presenting the user interface 304, the view of the globe 308 can bechanged accordingly (step 420). For instance, a drag gesture can resultin rotating the globe 308 to present a different portion of the Earth orthe depicted area. Accordingly, a supervisor or other user 126 canchoose to view different contact centers 104 in different areas of theworld.

After changing the view of the globe 308 in response to received userinput, or if no such input is received, a determination can be made asto whether the supervisor 126 or other user has provided inputindicating a desire to access detailed call center 104 or related data(step 424). If such input has been received, the user interface 304 canbe modified to present the detailed information requested by thesupervisor 126 (step 428). At step 432, a determination can be made asto whether the supervisor 126 has entered control input with respect tothe detailed data. This control input can include input to adjustparameters associated with a selected call center 104, such asparameters relating to queues 132 or agents 122 presented as part ofdetailed contact center information 324. As further examples, asupervisor 126 can modify parameters associated with multiple contactcenters 104. For example, responsibility for a queue 132 can betransferred between different contact centers 104 within thecommunication system 100, for example by dragging representations ofqueues from a first contact center 104 a to a second contact center 104b. If control input is received, additional operations indicated by theinput can be performance (step 436). After performing additionaloperations in response to the control input, or after determining thatno such input has been received, a determination can next be made as towhether operation of the ACD monitor and control application 220 and/orthe ACD control system application 236 is to continue (step 440). Ifoperation is to continue, the process can return to step 404.Accordingly, the data presented through any of the selected windows orfields available through the user interface 304 can be continuously orperiodically updated. Alternatively, the process can end.

In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, a supervisor126 can immediately access information regarding the operation of acommunication system 100. More particularly, the supervisor 126 ispresented with a map 308 view of communication system 100 components,including contact centers 104 and communication links 316 and servicedareas 312. In addition, the user interface 304 provides a convenientmechanism by which the supervisor 126 or other user can access detailedinformation regarding the communication system 100 components, and tomanipulate parameters associated with the operation of the communicationsystem 100 components. Moreover, embodiments of the present inventionprovide a user interface 304 that presents a globe 308 and communicationsystem 100 components in three-dimensions, to facilitate viewing of andinteraction with those components by the supervisor 126. Accordingly, agraphic depiction of a communication system 100 conditions can bepresented.

In accordance with further embodiments of the disclosed invention, theuser interface 304 can present detailed information 320 regardingconditions affecting or potentially affecting the performance of contactcenter 100 components. Examples include the presentation of news feeds,such as broadcast news or RSS feeds, regarding the weather, politicalsituation, social situation, or other information. Accordingly, suchinformation is made available to a supervisor 126 in connection withdetermining how to address performance issues affecting or potentiallyaffecting the communication system 100. Like other types of informationpresented by the user interface 304, news or other information about anarea encompassing a contact center 104, a serviced area 108, or acommunication link 316, can be presented and selected. For instance, avideo only depiction of news can be presented in connection with aselected contact center 104, serviced area 312, or communication link316, while audio information can be added by selecting the news feed320.

Although particular examples of information that can be depicted andselected have been provided, other combinations and functions arepossible. In general, such combinations and functions are made possibleby unique geographic and graphical presentation of communication system100 information in connection with the user interface 304 implementedthrough operation of the ACD control system application 236 and/ormonitoring control application 220. In addition, although interactivitywith the user interface 304 have been discussed in connection with asupervisor 126, it should be appreciated that any authority or user caninteract with the user interface 304, and benefit therefrom. Moreover,although in at least some embodiments the monitor and controlapplication 220 and the ACD control system application 236 on onecontact center 104 operate as a primary module or mode in connectionwith the collection, storage, sorting, and presentation of suchinformation through a user interface 304 to a supervisor 126 or otheruser, other arrangements are possible. For instance, a primary ACDcontrol system application 236 on a contact center 104 can provideinformation collected from contact centers 104 and other communicationsystem 100 components to a monitor and control application 220 executedby a supervisor device 124. As another example, the ACD control systemapplications 236 on different ACD servers 116 can provide informationregarding the contact center or centers 104 with which they areassociated, and connected service areas 308 in communication links 316to the monitor and control application 220 on the supervisor device 124,in which case the monitor and control application 220 can performcollection and arrangement functions with respect to such data. Inaccordance with still other embodiments, a supervisor or other user 126can interact with an ACD server 116 directly, rather than through asupervisor device 124.

The foregoing discussion of the invention has been presented forpurposes of illustration and description. Further, the description isnot intended to limit the invention to the form disclosed herein.Consequently, variations and modifications commensurate with the aboveteachings, within the skill or knowledge of the relevant art, are withinthe scope of the present invention. The embodiments describedhereinabove are further intended to explain the best mode presentlyknown of practicing the invention and to enable others skilled in theart to utilize the invention in such or in other embodiments and withvarious modifications required by the particular application or use ofthe invention. It is intended that the appended claims be construed toinclude alternative embodiments to the extent permitted by the priorart.

1. A method, comprising: monitoring at least a first performanceparameter associated with first and second contact centers; using the atleast a first performance parameter, assigning a performance score tothe first contact center; representing a geographic location of thefirst contact center on a map encompassing a geographic area presentedin a display output; representing the assigned performance score of thefirst contact center on the map in the display output; and representinga geographic location of the second contact center on the mapencompassing the geographic area presented in the display output.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: using the at least a firstperformance parameter, assigning a performance score to the secondcontact center; and representing the assigned performance score of thesecond contact center in the display output.
 3. The method of claim 2,wherein the first performance parameter includes a health parameter. 4.The method of claim 3, wherein the health parameter includes a health ofagents associated with the respective site.
 5. The method of claim 4,wherein the health of agents associated with the respective site isderived from information including a time for the agents associated withthe first site to handle contacts in a first queue compared to a timefor the agents associated with the second site to handle contacts in thefirst queue.
 6. The method of claim 5, further comprising: representinga status of a communication link between the first contact center and atleast one of the second contact center and a geographic region otherthan the geographic region including the first contact center on the mapencompassing the geographic area presented in the display output.
 7. Themethod of claim 6, wherein the status of the communication linkrepresented on the map encompassing the geographic area presented in thedisplay output includes a representation of a volume of contacts carriedby the communication link.
 8. The method of claim 6, further comprising:receiving a broadcast news feed associated with the geographic locationof the first contact center; displaying information from the news feedassociated with the geographic location of the first contact center inthe display output while representing the geographic center, thegeographic location of the second contact center, and the status of thecommunication link represented on the map encompassing the geographicarea presented in the display.
 9. The method of claim 8, furthercomprising: receiving user input selecting the first contact center; inresponse to the user input selecting the first contact center,displaying additional information regarding a status of the firstcontact center.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the additionalinformation regarding a status of the first contact center includesadditional information regarding at least one of: the health of theagents associated with the first contact center; the health of at leasta first queue associated with the first contact center; informationincluded in the news feed associated with the geographic location of thefirst contact center.
 11. A method comprising: monitoring at least afirst performance parameter associated with first and second contactcenters; using the at least a first performance parameter, assigning aperformance score to the first contact center; representing a geographiclocation of contact center on a map encompassing a geographic areapresented in a display output; representing the assigned performancescore of the first contact center in the display output; representing ageographic location of the second contact center on the map encompassingthe geographic area presented in the display output; using the at leasta first performance parameter, assigning a performance score to thesecond contact center; representing the assigned performance score ofthe second contact center in the display output, wherein the firstperformance parameter includes a health parameter, wherein the healthparameter includes a health of agents associated with the respectivesite, wherein the health of agents associated with the respective siteis derived from information including a time for the agents associatedwith the first site to handle contacts in a first queue compared to atime for the agents associated with the second sit to handle contacts inthe first queue; represent a status of a communication link between thefirst contact center and at least one second contact center and ageographic region other than the geographic region including the firstcontact center on the map encompassing the geographic area presented inthe display output; receiving a broadcast news feed associated with thegeographic location of the first contact center; displaying informationfrom the news feed associated with the geographic location of the firstcontact center in the display output while representing the geographiccenter, the geographic location of the second contact center, and thestatus of the communication link represented on the map encompassing thegeographic area presented in the display; representing a status of acommunication link between the second contact center and at least one ofthe first contact center and a geographic region other than thegeographic region including the second contact center in the displayoutput; receiving a news feed associated with the geographic location ofthe second contact center; displaying information from the news feedassociated with the geographic location of the second contact center inthe display output, wherein the status of the assigned performancescores of the first and second contact centers, the status of thecommunication link between the first contact center and at least one ofthe second contact center and a geographic region other than thegeographic region including the first contact center, information fromthe news feed associated with the geographic location of the firstcontact center, the status of the communication link between the secondcontact center and at least one of the first contact center and ageographic region other than the geographic region including the secondcontact center, and the information included in the news feed associatedwith the geographic location of the second contact center are alldisplayed simultaneously in the display output.
 12. The method of claim11, wherein the display output is a three-dimensional display output.13. The method of claim 12, wherein the display output is presented by atouch screen display.
 14. A non-transitory computer readable mediumhaving stored thereon computer executable instructions, the computerreadable instructions causing a processor to execute a method forfacilitating mobile monitoring and control of a communication systemthat includes at least a first contact center, the computer readableinstructions comprising: instructions to provide a presentation of ageographic area; instructions to represent data of a first type relatedto the first contact center in a first portion of the geographic areacorresponding to a location of the first contact center; andinstructions to represent data of the first type related to a secondcontact center in a second portion of the geographic area correspondingto a location of the second contact center.
 15. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the computer readablemedium is included in a supervisor device, and wherein the instructionsare executed by a processor included in the supervisor device.
 16. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, further comprising:instructions to represent data of a second type related to at least oneof a communication link to at least one of the first and second contactcenters and a service area associated with at least one of the first andsecond contact centers.
 17. The non-transitory computer readable mediumof claim 16, further comprising: instructions to present information ofa third type in response to user input selecting one of the first andsecond contact centers.
 18. A device, comprising: a communicationinterface; a user output; a user input; a processor; memory, wherein thememory has stored thereon: first call center data; second call centerdata; a monitor and control application, wherein the monitor and controlapplication is executed by the processor and displays call centerrelated information to a user, wherein the call center relatedinformation is presented graphically by the user output, wherein thecall center related information associated with the first call center isdisplayed on a map in a first geographic location corresponding to anactual location of the first call center, and wherein the call centerrelated information associated with the second call center issimultaneously displayed on the map in a second geographic locationcorresponding to an actual location of the second call center.
 19. Thedevice of claim 18, further comprising: a communication applicationstored in memory, wherein the communication application supportscommunications between the device and one of the first and second callcenters in response to a selection of a displayed depiction of the oneof the first and second call centers.
 20. The device of claim 18,wherein the monitor and control application additionally displaysinformation related to at least one of: a status of a communication linkbetween one of the first and second call centers and another call centeror service area, conditions in a geographic location, and a status of aservice area on the map.